


Beneath the Blue Ocean

by Pellehouse



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Atlantis: The Lost Empire Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Powers, But I changed some things up, Eventual Relationships, Getting Together, Kinda, M/M, Royal Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Feels, Tags May Change, Tony Stark Feels, Touch-Starved, it's complicated - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25426651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pellehouse/pseuds/Pellehouse
Summary: Standing on the huge cargo ships deck, Steve could feel the strong, cool sea breeze hitting his face.It was cold, the sky was gray. Looks like it’s about to rain soon. It really won’t matter, though, because soon Steve won’t be seeing the sky for a long time. He’ll be somewhere else-----Or: It's 1920, and a certain captain Steve Rogers joins the world's biggest excursion to find the lost city of Atlantis. He might just fall in love with a certain crown prince of Atlantis, that kinda messes up the original plans.Aka: Disney's Atlantis the Lost Empire, but with Stevetony. (Can be read without any prior knowledge about the movie)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One day I was just hanging out with my friends and we decided to watch some old Disney movies for fun.  
> We decided to watch Disney's Atlantis and while watching that movie I thought to my self: "Wow, this movie is good. But it would be better if it was full of Stevetony."
> 
> And so this happened.
> 
> This is probably my most ambitious project ever, because this is my first time actually writing something big in English (which is not my native language). So beware of any grammar mistakes.

Standing on the huge cargo ships deck, Steve could feel the strong, cool sea breeze hitting his face. 

It was cold, the sky was gray. Looks like it’s about to rain soon. It really won’t matter, though, because soon Steve won’t be seeing the sky for a long time. He’ll be somewhere else.

Moments like these are Steve’s favorites. He’s all alone, enjoying the peace and sounds of the ocean. Surprisingly Steve finds sea more calming than anything else. It’s tranquil but still strong, everything that Steve is not.

Steve knows his time alone won’t last for long like he wishes it could, which is why he enjoys it while he still can. Soon he has to leave the pleasant feeling behind him and get ready for duty. They’ll leave soon.

While watching at the distant sea, Steve could hear fast footsteps approaching him from behind him. He knew who those steps belonged to. He knows them all too well. Those high heeled boots that made a clicking sound every time they hit the ships decks metal floor told Steve, that his time alone with the sea has ended, he has to go. 

Still, he didn't yet bother to turn and face the other person, when they walked up right next to him and started talking.

“You are expected inside the ship, captain. Commander Blonsky and Mr. Fury would like to exchange a few words with you, before the submarine launches.”

Steve didn’t say anything. He knew he had to go, but he also wanted to act petty and show his remorse by staying silent and staring at the gray sea, reflecting the cloudy sky above them.

“Steve, please. Everything will play out just fine, no need to be so angsty. We’ll go out there, take what we need, and come back richer than ever. It’s that easy,” the person continues, now with a little more sincere tone in their voice. It was probably just an act to get Steve going, but it did work. 

Steve finally turned his head around to meet the other person's eyes. Natasha stared back at him, face determined. She knew, that Steve did not enjoy this. Of course she knew. Natasha knows how to read anyone like an open book.

He honestly doesn’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing, though.

“Yes, right. I’ll go. Thank you,” Steve murmured to Natasha and nodded, who shot a half-smile back at him. Now he can no longer run away, it’s showtime.

* * *

Everything inside the ship was already in almost full action, when Steve arrived. Many men and women were performing their jobs and preparing for the submarines launch, carrying around huge containers full of- well, everything, really. They sure were ready for all and everything, this was no joke.

In the middle of all, stood tall the submarine itself. Steve really has to give credit where credit is due, because that huge submarine is something he has never ever seen before in his life. He has seen many things, especially during the war, but that submarine really was something else.

It could fit at least 200 humans inside - probably even more -, along with countless torpedoes and escape pods, if anything actually would go wrong. In front of the submarine was a large glass, through which you could see the whole sea while travelling thousands of feet underwater. 

It really is a sight to behold. He liked it.

While Steve walked through the huge crowds of people preparing the submarine for launch, he heard a familiar man's voice calling out his name from the distance. 

He instantly turned around and saw the two men he was supposed to meet walking towards him. Mr. Nick Fury, the founder of this trip, who made everything possible. A man Steve respected wholeheartedly. And with him commander Emil Blonsky, who Steve didn’t respect as much, although they are supposed to lead this journey together as a team.

“Captain Rogers, pleasant to finally see you here. Is everything in order?” Mr. Fury asked, as he and Blonsky approached Steve.

“As far as I know, yes, Mr. Fury. We should be ready for launch in a couple of minutes.”

“Good. And how are you feeling?”

“Perfectly fine, as always,” Steve lied. In reality he actually felt the opposite of fine. _This is not fine._

That was apparently enough for Mr. Fury, at least for now, because he nodded and excused himself, leaving Steve and commander Blonsky alone together. 

Being left alone with commander Blonsky wasn’t that pleasant.

There has always been this almost suffocating tension between them two, which was present right now too. Blonsky was originally the one who recommended Steve this job after the war, but they never really got along with each other. 

Blonsky is the embodiment of everything Steve dislikes passionately. This is why Steve would have rather stayed silent and monitored other workers before launch, but apparently Blonsky had other things in mind. He wanted to talk.

“Do you think we’ll finally find what we have been looking for for years now? How long have we been preparing for this trip anyways, three years?” Blonsky asked from Steve, with that annoying grin dancing on his face that Steve would like to punch off. Doing that would honestly be the highlight of Steve’s entire day. Even life, maybe.

He doesn’t punch though, not today. Instead he shrugs, not really wanting to take part in an already dead conversation. “I suppose we’ll find out soon.”

“If we really find the Atlantis, how rich do you think we’ll get?”

“I thought money wasn’t the thing you wanted the most from this trip. Or was all that talk about bringing the lost culture of the Atlantis back to surface just a lie to get your pockets full?” Steve asked flatly back, fighting the urge to come off as aggressive on purpose. It was hard.

Blonksy scoffed, apparently not wanting to continue this soon to be argument with Steve. Instead he changed the topic, seemingly not understanding Steve’s desire to end their small and sad conversation.

“We’ll be getting a new crew member, correct?” Blonsky asked, his annoying grin disappearing. 

Oh yes, Steve almost forgot about that. Blonsky is _not_ happy about their newest crew member. “Is it really necessary? Our team is already perfect without some new bookworm changing everything up,” he continued, clearly bitter.

“His a linguist, we need him. We won’t come even close to finding Atlantis, if we don’t have someone capable of understanding their dead, ancient language. We need him to translate the book, which has all the information about Atlantis we need, and then give directions. Or do you want to do that yourself instead?” Steve answered again, frowning and now clearly annoyed.

That finally made Blonsky shut up, leaving them standing next to each other in silence, which was like music to Steve’s ears. 

He honestly isn’t sure, how he’ll manage to stay sane, while travelling far underwater with Blonsky constantly breathing down his neck.

* * *

While Steve and Blonsky stood next to each other in complete silence, keeping an eye on the huge metal submarine and the people loading it ready for the trip, the speakers above them started up and an another man’s voice started speaking. 

This time it was Clint Barton’s, which was a surprise. Steve didn’t expect Clint to come with them. Last time Clint was with them in Iceland, he had complained about _everything_ at all times, driving everyone nuts. 

Sometimes it was too cold to walk, and other times his back hurt too much to carry heavy luggage. 

Maybe he got more interested about this trip, after hearing about the pay, like almost everyone else did. It wouldn’t really surprise Steve. They do get payed a lot.

“All men to the launch bay, the submarine will take off in just a couple of minutes,” Clint announced, sounding more tired than anything else, and almost immediately after that was said, Steve could see more people coming down inside the ship for launch. 

There was many familiar faces among the huge groups of people. Steve could recognise at least Scott Lang, their mineralogist and excavations expert of the expedition. He was a good man, though maybe a bit too over enthusiastic about dirt. Steve honestly still doesn’t understand _why_ they need a man obsessed with digging and _ants_ out of everything to join their group, but he was told that Scott was necessary. 

With Scott, Steve could also see Shuri, their engineer, as well as Thor, who is probably the weirdest doctor and person in general Steve has ever met. They all carried their own luggage, chatting with each other calmly. As friends.

And walking behind them was someone entirely new. A kind of scrawny, brown haired boy, who looked more lost than anyone else inside this huge ship. _He must be the linguist_ , Steve thought as he watched the boy stumble around, because no one else here can look so scared and small while preparing for a trip across and beneath the ocean.

Steve switched his gaze from the boy to other people arriving to the scene, but was quickly disturbed again, this time by Mr. Fury again, who had come back to Steve and Blonsky, joined by the same scrawny looking boy from earlier.

“Captain Rogers, commander Blonsky, I want you to meet someone,” Mr. Fury told Steve and Blonsky, looking like a serious stone statute, like he always did. The boy in question took his hand out of his long, brown coats pocket and extended his hand to shake Steve’s and Blonsky's hands. He tightly held a book with his other hand. 

“Meet Peter Parker. Your crew’s new linguist, who will translate The Shepherd's Journal and lead you to the lost city of Atlantis,” Fury continued. 

Peter Parker’s name sounded familiar to Steve and soon he realized, that Peter Parker was indeed the nephew of Ben Parker, an old member of their crew, who started the quest to find Atlantis. 

Steve actually raised his eyebrows when he realized that. Ben always talked about his nephew and how smart he was, but Steve never actually expected to meet him.

Blonsky also realized this, clicked his tongue and smiled at Parker. “Ah, Peter Parker. I knew your uncle. It’s a pleasure to meet the nephew of that great man,” he said grinning and then continued. “I see you got that journal. Nice pictures. I helped your uncle find that from Iceland with Captain Rogers over here. He really was a nice man, god bless his soul.” 

The boy, Peter, laughed a little and nodded his head. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right. He- He really was a nice man. I really hope we’ll find the Atlantis and complete his mission. He always believed, that you could not put a price on the pursuit of knowledge, but trust me, nothing will ever top the value of knowledge we’re going to learn on this trip.” 

“Yes, this should be enriching for all of us,” Blonsky replied and placed his other hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve cringed, but before he could himself say anything, blasted Clint’s voice through the speakers again, finally announcing the launch of the submarine. 

Mr. Fury patted Parker on his shoulder. “Good luck, son. I won’t join you on this journey, not this time. You have to survive on your own.” And after that he stepped aside and left the rest of them alone together, again.

Steve knew there was no more time to waste, which is why he hopped inside the submarine and watched, as many others also walked inside after him. When the bells rang everywhere announcing, that the submarine will finally leave, Steve knew there was no going back. They were going to find Atlantis.

* * *

So far, everything had gone as planned. There was no complications during the launch and before Steve even fully noticed it, they were travelling deep underwater. 

Standing at the front of the sub at the bridge, Steve could indeed see everything that surrounded them underwater. It was a beautiful sight, Steve had to give it that. The view was something Steve had never seen before. 

While Steve himself again monitored the crew and made sure, that everyone was doing their job well, Blonsky and Natasha were talking to each other faintly a bit further away from him. They were planning for the trip, Steve knew that, but he didn’t hear much from their conversation due to the machines whirring in the background and people giving instructions to each other. 

It’s not like he really cared about it anyways, when he had to constantly make sure that the rest of the crew knew what they were doing. Talking could be done later, when they have more time.

“Hey man, everything alright?” Someone said all of the sudden from Steve’s left and he spun around like a carousel to see who talked to him. To his delight, it was Sam. The only person Steve could actually talk to without fearing, that they’ll dissociate the information to someone else .

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, you know, this is a lot. I haven’t actually traveled under seas before, it’s new,” Steve answered, more relaxed than usual. Sam was just the type of guy, that could make everyone relaxed with his presence. Steve wished he could learn his secret of being so laid back, because _god_ he did need that.

“Everything’s going to be fine, right? We’ve done this before,” Sam continued and leaned back on the metal railing, that outlined the submarines bridge.

“We’ve never actually traveled under the ocean with a huge submarine to find a lost city, that sunk under water thousands of years ago, but yes, of course,” Steve answered, a small, playful smile forming on his face. Sam smiled back. 

They fell into a casual conversation, talking about their days, their cousin’s sick cats and so on. It was really easy talking to Sam, and Steve found himself actually enjoying the trip. Watching the underwater world while joking with his old friend and once in a while commanding rest of the crew was something Steve didn’t know he needed today, but was glad he got to do.

Of course their calm talk session had to come to an end, when Natasha approached Steve and asked him, if it would be a good idea to host a little class about Atlantis for the rest of the crew. 

None of them actually knew _how_ to get to the Atlantis. Everything needed was said in The Shepherd's Journal, which was currently in Mr. Parker’s possession. He was the one who held the key to finding Atlantis.

No one else other than Mr. Parker could even read that book, because it was filled from start to finnish with some nonsense language. This is why the new linguist boy did have a lot to explain to them, if they wanted to get to Atlantis all in one piece, which is why Steve agreed. They do need a class before anything major happens.

* * *

“Good afternoon. Does uh- Does everyone hear me okay? Do I need to speak up or anything?” was the first thing Parker said during their class. They assembled all the most important members of the crew to join and learn the basics about Atlantis, because they have to be ready for everything. At the moment it would seem like no one actually cared though, because everyone looked like they would rather jump off a plane than listen to whatever was going to come out of Parker's mouth.

When no one answered Parker’s questions, Steve cleared his throat and said, “Alright everyone, I want you all to pay close attention to Mr. Parker’s presentation. This is important.”Peter whispered a quiet thank you to Steve and then started his presentation.

He had brought a huge pile of books with him, as well as some slides to show. The whole class went as well as anyone would suspect. Parker messed around with his slides and showed an old picture of himself with swimwear, while he was supposed to talk about an supposed big, dark, and dangerous lobster looking monster guarding the gates of Atlantis.

And of course when Parker messed up, rest of the crew made fun of him. 

Even Clint joined them at teasing flustered Parker, even though he was actually supposed to be working with the hydrophone and _not_ join their little class. 

Everything was really building up to become a disaster, and Steve had to fight the urge to sigh and roll his eyes every time something dumb happened.

When Parker was about to be done with his presentation, everyone else started to become restless.

“When do we dig?” Was Scott’s only question, to which Parker responded, “Actually, we do not have to dig. According to the journal, the path to Atlantis will take us through a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean, and we’ll come up a curve into an air pocket. There we will find and ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis. It’s simple, no digging needed.”

“Why are we all here then, if it’s that simple? I have engines to run,” grouched Shuri this time. She hadn’t paid any attention to Parker’s talk, being more worried about the submarines projection room than anything else.

Parker tried to explain everything to her, but it was clear that this class was over. No one had the energy to continue this.

“Alright everyone, class is dismissed. Get back to work”, Blonsky commanded, saving the situation, which was something new. Steve was honestly surprised, because he thought Blonsky would rather just stay silent and watch others tear Parker in half, than actually help him out.

While everyone else walked off from the bridge, glad that the class ended, Steve ordered Parker to stay with them. They needed guidance right now, while coming closer to the coordinates where the gateway to Atlantis should locate in. Parker was necessary, being the only one who could actually understand the book and it’s instructions.

As Parker started to translate the directions from the book for the helmsman, Steve decided to take a look outside the window again, needing something to clear his mind from that mess of a class. He figured that looking back at the sea would make him more relaxed again.

He stared out from the huge window, looking at the bottom of the sea. It was obviously dark, but Steve could still see something, that he did not expect to see.

There was maybe thousands of shipwrecks laying at the bottom, some completely destroyed, which was really odd. 

The sight made Steve feel a little uneasy, because what the hell can destroy so many ships at the same exact place? No storm can actually sink that many boats, right?

And apparently Steve wasn’t the only one who noticed these countless shipwrecks, because he could see Natasha also staring out the window, her mouth open. This was absurd, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Clint also had something new to say.

“Commander, I think you should hear this,” Clint said, his words directed at Blonsky. Clint's desk was located just next to the bridge, so he could inform anyone quickly about anything, but apparently Blonsky was more invested in hearing Parker’s translations about Atlantis, than Clint’s words.

Of course he was. The only thing he cares about is money and how to find it.

Clint kept on calling for Blonsky, while the man ignored it completely. This is why Steve huffed and answered himself. 

“What is it, Mr. Barton?”

Clint grinned, after finally someone answering his calls. “I’m picking up something on the hydrophone that I think you should hear.”

“Put it on speakers.”

As soon as Steve said that, Clint flicked a switch and all of the sudden a loud, metallic sound filled the deck, while coming out from the speakers. Everyone froze, while listening to the roaring like sound. Steve had no idea what it was, but it definitely did not sound friendly.

If anything, it sounded like a metallic beast’s aggressive roar.

While the sound kept on playing, Blonsky and Natasha walked up to Clint’s desk. Steve followed them, eager to know where that sound came from, because it was something he had never heard before. What could even make a sound like that underwater?

“What is that? A pod of whales?” Now confused Blonsky asked from Clint, while looking around the submarine like he could find the sounds source from inside.

“Uh-uh, it’s much bigger,” Clint answered.

“It sounds metallic. Could be an echo off one of the rocks,” Natasha suggested.

Clint leaned back on his chair and shrugged. “You wanna do my job? Be my guest.”

As Natasha and Blonsky tried to tinker with the hydrophone, Parker had also joined their group and also looked around the ship, trying to determine where the loud sound came from.

“Hey, is it just me, or is the sound getting louder?” He asked from others. It did sound like that sound was becoming louder, getting closer. Atleast to Steve it did. Until it just stopped and everything became dead silent. Everyone stood still and on alert, looking around and outside. When the sound didn’t return Clint just shrugged again, completely unfazed.

Steve grunted, unable to tell what had just happened. He did know though, that they had to continue their journey before something bad would happen. 

“Well, whatever it was, it’s gone now. Helmsman, bring us about-” Steve was about to say, but his sentence was cut off by a huge hit at the submarine, that shook the whole ship and made almost everyone lose their balance and fall on the metal floor. 

As Steve tried to get back on his feet and understand what had just happened, another blow hit the submarine again and he fell back down, hitting his head at the same time.

Now there was no doubt of what was happening. They were under attack.

Steve quickly rose back to his feet and looked outside. There was… Something. It looked like an oversized lobster, much bigger than the submarine. And looks like it was _angry_.

And it also looked like it was about to destroy the whole submarine, like it had probably done to the many shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea Steve saw earlier. They have to do something, if they don’t want to end up the same way.

“Tell everyone to melt the butter and bring out the ribs! I want this lobster served up on a silver platter,” Blonsky yelled to Steve as soon as he also got back on his feet. Steve knew exactly what to do. He has done this before.

Steve started to command troops, telling everyone what to do. Load the torpedo base, shoot harpoons, get to your battle stations, don’t panic. It was all automatic. And everyone complied.

Red warning lights started to flash, bells rang, and the whole submarine shook as the giant lobster looking thing hit it. The ship would not last together for much longer, if this continues. 

No matter what they shot at the lobster, it seemed like it wasn’t even phased by it. Like it had some sort of metal armor around it, that could take any hit. It’s like it was some sort of machine. They tried everything they could, but nothing worked.

As the submarine started to shake even more violently, everyone knew that this would not last. 

“Everyone evacuate now. Go. Move it!” Blonsky yelled, after Shuri from the projection room had told them, that the submarine will literally explode soon. Everyone started to move towards the stairs, that led to the submarines hold, where the escape pods located.

Steve led everyone throughout the ship, as alarms started going off, ordering everyone to get out of the submarine immediately. Parker behind him was constantly asking anxiously where they were going, apparently not fully understanding what was going on. Steve had to ignore those questions, because he himself had to open up those capsules and command everyone inside before the whole submarine was going to be destroyed, them with it.

When everyone finally got seated in their capsules, they got out of the submarine while the big lobster monster was about to tear it in half. At Least six capsules got out safely, their capsule being the first one. 

Steve already thought, that it was over and they would get out safely, but destroying the ship apparently wasn’t enough for the lobster. It noticed their smaller pods and started to chase those too, destroying some of them immediately with some sort of… Heat ray? 

Steve honestly had no idea what was going on anymore, but he did know, that they had to get out. Now. And he also knew that from this day on, they have to pay more attention to Parker's speech about giant monsters guarding the gate to Atlantis.

While trying to escape, more other escape pods were destroyed by the monster. They had to be lucky to get out alive.

“Where to, Mr. Parker? Where do we go?” Steve demanded from Parker, while trying to control their capsule, which was about to spiral out of control. Controlling that thing, while also trying to dodge giant lobster’s heat ray wasn’t the easiest task.

“We're looking for a big crevice of some kind,” Parker answered as well as he could, while the whole capsule shook.

Steve started to desperately look for any kind of crevice on the ocean’s floor, while also trying to keep everyone alive. It wasn’t easy, but luckily Natasha, who was sitting right next to him spotted one and ordered every remaining pod to follow them inside it.

They dived inside the big crevice, others following them not too far behind. 

Unfortunately also the lobster followed them, not wanting to let them go. 

Steve tried to dodge everything that came their way, but it was hard. He could see other pods being destroyed left and right, and he was sure that they would be next. 

But somehow their pod did not get destroyed.

They got into a tunnel, only followed by a single other pod now. And before Steve could even fully react to what had just happened, their pod as well as one other pulled up, getting them inside a weird looking, big cave. _The air pocket Parker talked about._

The lobster did not follow them there. 

They were alive.

They were safe.

Steve sat still, trying to catch his breath. He still wasn’t sure how they made it, but they did.

But not everyone did make it out alive.

* * *

Of course they had to make a some sort of memorial for the fallen, before continuing their journey. When Steve actually realized, that over 80 % of their original crew did not make it, it made him feel hollow inside. 

_It could have been me._

They all stood by the water inside the large cave, where they had surfaced from. Thor kneeled down and lowered a bowl on water, where a single lit candle stood. They all let Thor do this, because he was friends with almost everyone. 

Everything was silent, until Steve spoke up. “Seven hours ago we started this expedition with 200 of the most finest men and women I had ever known. Now we’re all that’s left.” Saying that hit hard. Knowing that all those people just died in front of them was cruel to know, although it wasn’t anything new.

That doesn’t mean that it would feel any less bad, thought.

Everyone looked down. Many people were holding or supporting each other, not wanting to be alone right now. Thor was holding Shuri, Clint and Scott stood next to each other, and Natasha and Blonsky were quietly talking to each other. Parker was alone, standing further away from everyone else. 

Sam came up to Steve, and placed his hand on his shoulder. This time Steve didn’t cringe at the sudden contact. He needed it. 

He continued, ”I won’t sugarcoat it gentlemen, we have a crisis on our hands. But we’ve been up this particular creek before and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here on in, everyone pulls double duty. Everyone drives, everyone works. We have to end what we started.” Steve turned to look at Parker, who looked even more distraught than he himself felt at the moment, hands clenching around his journal. Poor boy.

“Mr. Parker,” he called out. “Looks like all our changes of survival rests with you. You and that little book.” That didn’t seem to ease his mood much, but it was the truth.

“We’re all gonna die,” Clint dramatically announced like always, but Blonsky was having none of it.

“Alright people, we have no time to waste. Get to work. Natasha, I wanted this carpool moving five minutes ago. Move it.” And with that said, the mourning was over and people started to work, trying to get everything they could out from their pods, including cars and whatever food was left.

This was a mess, Steve knew that. But there was literally no turning back anymore. The journey was only about to begin.

* * *

While Steve along with the others got ready to continue their journey deep underground, they did not notice three human like figures in the distance staring at them. 

Those figures did not move or approach them, knowing that it wouldn’t end well if they would do so. Instead they stayed still and whispered to each other, not finding these new guests so pleasant.


	2. Chapter 2

Somehow Steve had thought, that their journey underground towards Atlantis would have been much shorter and faster. At least that’s the impression he got from Parker, when he had assured everyone, that everything would be simple. 

It turned out to be quite the opposite, though. 

They had been travelling deep underground for days now. It was clear they were heading in the right direction, but some people were still starting to get tired and bored. Especially Clint was bored, like always, which was why he had picked up a new hobby. Teasing Parker mercilessly, and making fun of almost everything he did. 

Clint actually wasn’t the only one doing that, because many others from their excursion also liked from time to time make fun of Parker, who didn’t fight much back. It's not like he really could. It was almost everyone versus him.

Steve didn’t understand why, but for some reason everyone seemed to dislike Parker. Even Thor, who’s usually friends with everyone.

Once Steve saw Sam and Scott laughing at Parker, after they had just made him believe he had drunk an entire flask full of nitroglycerin, which would allegedly kill him in seconds. Parker really thought he was going to die for a second there and was _really_ embarrassed after. And that was only one incident out of many, many others.

That poor kid could not catch a break.

Steve did pity him, which is why he sometimes helped Parker carry his heavy baggage and ate with him in silence during lunch, when no one else wanted to sit with him. At first Parker had tried to make friends with Steve, but soon he too realized, that Steve wasn’t there to make any new friends.

In the end, it didn’t seem to bother Parker too much, because he was knees deep in work, trying to translate every word from the Shepherd’s Journal. 

Steve too had a lot of work to do, as well as a lot to think about.

The caves they traveled in had no light source, apart from their own lamps and trucks’ lights. They couldn’t always see well due to that, but when they did, they could see lots of old carvings and destroyed structures everywhere around them. 

Those were full of weird symbols, probably the Atlantean language, but that didn't interest Steve that much. What did though, were the pictures, that were painted on some of the caves’ walls. Those paintings displayed a variety of events, usually showing a big ball of light floating in the sky. A bunch of humans were often painted below it, bowing down. It looked ominous.

During one of their lunch breaks, Parker had mentioned the Heart of Atlantis, a supposed powerful energy source for Atlantis. More powerful than anything they have back on the surface. He told Steve, how the journal he translated kept mentioning it, but before actually telling what it did, it cut off. Like a page was ripped off from the book or something. Could the thing paintings pictured be that? The Heart of Atlantis?

* * *

“Looks like we have a little roadblock,” Blonsky announced, while he stared at a huge wall blocking their road. Yeah, _a little_ roadblock.

Almost everyone had hopped out of their trucks to look at the wall after it became clear, that they won’t continue their journey, if they can’t get past it. No one for sure could get past that wall without some explosives, which was a problem. They did of course have explosives, but maybe not enough for a wall that big.

“Sam,” Steve called out and walked right next to him. Sam was inspecting the wall, looking confused. “What do you think? Could you maybe blow this wall up?”

Sam turned to look at Steve and pulled out a some kind of explosive from his pocket.

“Well, in theory I could un-roadblock this if I had about 200 of these,” Sam said, pointing at his explosive. “The problem is, that I only got about ten. Plus, y’know, a couple of cherry bombs and a road flare. So no, I’m afraid not.”

Well then, that does complicate thing up even more.

Parker had also walked up to them in silence and was also inspecting the wall, apparently trying to again translate the weird symbols carved into it. Sam turned to look at him, now grinning a little. “Too bad we don’t have any nitroglycerin left, eh Peter?”

Steve could hear Scott laughing behind him from inside his huge drill like excavator. Sam also chuckled, but Steve scoffed. He still didn't see how making fun of Parker was entertaining. “Alright, leave Mr. Parker alone and concentrate.” Sam and Scott stopped laughing.

“If there’s no other way in, it looks like we’re gonna have to dig,” Steve announced, turning to look at Scott, whose head poked out from his excavator. Scott’s face lit up with joy, after he heard that. He kinda looked like a child, who just got a puppy as a Christmas present. 

“It’d be my pleasure, Cap,” Scott replied with a huge, elevated smile, and then disappeared back inside his excavator. This was the first time Scott could actually do his thing, also known as digging. This was going to be interesting.

Sometimes it really felt like Steve’s task wasn’t to lead their excursion, but to babysit many childish adults, while they played around with their dangerous gadgets. Scott especially was known for sometimes accidentally blowing _many_ things up while working, but Steve did still trust him. Scott could get the work done.

“Are you sure we should let Scott play around with a thing like that? He’ll do something dumb and get us all killed,” Blonsky asked from Steve with a suspicious tone, standing right next to him. Steve hadn't even noticed him at first, because he was more quiet than usual.

Steve shrugged and stepped away from the excavator’s way. “If you have a better idea on how to get past this ridiculously tall, stone wall, do tell me.” 

Steve’s tone wasn’t aggressive or annoyed anymore, while he talked to Blonsky. It was actually more sarcastic and almost playful. One thing Steve certainly had learned during this trip, was how to get out of Blonsky’s debate like conversations. He just had to act like he was joking and not taking anything seriously, and Blonsky lost his interest immediately.

It was nice being able to do everything in peace without feeling Blonsky’s eyes judging his every move.

* * *

Scott started to drill through the huge wall with his excavator. At first everything seemed to go well, but didn’t last for long, though, because the excavator decided to stop working midway through drilling.

Steve didn’t understand what happened to it, but he could see smoke coming out from the vehicle, which was never a good sing.

While Scott tried to restart the excavator again, Shuri went behind it to take a look at it’s engine, complaining about how she just fixed it this morning. 

Everyone knows not to disturb Shuri, while she is working with something.

Everyone but Parker, who still doesn’t know how to take a hint and followed her.

Steve didn’t join them, but he could still hear their voices, that echoed around the cave. Shuri and Parker were talking to each other. There was also some loud banging, which didn’t exactly sound like fixing the engine. It sounded more like trying to break it. But to his surprise, Steve saw how the excavator came back to life and started to drill again, after the banging stopped. Whatever Peter and Shuri did to it, it did surprisingly work.

“Thank you, Peter, but next time you should let me fix things when they are broken. Banging everything with a hammer won’t always help,” Steve heard Shuri say to Peter, who chuckled slightly, while they both hopped back in their trucks to continue their journey.

* * *

After the huge wall, their excursion had ended up in an another cave. This time it was just much larger. It was much like all the others they had been in, but what was interesting about this one though, was a stone bridge, that went over a deep ravine, which was maybe even hundreds of feet tall. There was also a weird structure above them, attached to the ceiling. It glowed green and kind of looked like an odd chandelier. It was… weird. Yeah, that's the best way to describe it.

Blonsky had ordered everyone to set up their tents and sleep, before they would continue their journey and cross the bridge. Peter had a lot of trouble with his tent, but managed to set it up somehow. It didn’t look comfortable, but that would do.

While everyone else was eating together in groups, Peter had once again been left alone. Even captain Rogers didn’t bother to eat with him, which was a bummer. They didn’t talk much, but Peter did still enjoy the captain’s company. 

The food tasted awful, which didn’t really ease Peter’s mood. He could hear others laughing and talking to each other, but as soon as he turned around to look at them, they fell silent. It wasn’t like Peter really cared, though. He had a bunch of books to read and translate. Books could be his new friends.

“Hey Peter, would you come and sit with us?” Yelled Shuri suddenly, which startled Peter. 

He turned around again and saw others staring back at him, this time with smiles on their faces. _Oh,_ okay. This was new.

“Really? You won’t mind?” Peter asked a bit suspiciously, but still grabbed the journal he was reading, as well as his disgustingly bad food, got up from a rock he was sitting on, and walked towards everyone else.

“We won’t. We’ve been harsh on you, but now you have proven yourself worthy,” Thor answered and patted Peter on his back.

“Gee, thank you. It’s an honor to be included in your little group.”

Peter sat down. Everyone else continued to eat their food and casually talk again. Peter pretended to continue translating the journal himself, but actually he was secretly observing everyone else. He never really got the chance to fully understand what they were like. Now's the chance. 

Their group consisted of Shuri, Sam, Scott, Clint, and Thor. Peter had to admit, that this was probably the weirdest group of friends he had ever seen. But he also had to admit, that they all seemed kind of nice, now that he actually got to see what they were like. It looked like everyone really got along with each other.

“Hey Peter, do you ever close that book? You must have read it at least a thousand times by now,” Sam suddenly asked from Peter, who was still pretending to read the journal.

“Uh- Yeah I have. But there’s still so many things I don’t understand. It’s confusing, really,” Peter answered. And it was true. He still doesn’t quite understand the whole ‘Heart of Atlantis’ thing that the journal keeps on mentioning, although he has read the book way too many times already.

“Kid, relax. We don’t get paid from overtime.”

That was also true. Which is why Peter sighed, finally closed the journal, and lowered it down, feeling a little more comfortable. “Yeah, I know. I know. Sometimes I just get carried away. But hey, that’s what this all is about, right? Discovery, teamwork, friendship, and adventure.”

Everyone else fell silent and just stared at Peter, like he just said something _really_ dumb. 

”Unless, maybe, you’re just in it for the money…” he continued, voice more soft.

Everyone else agreed on that. They’re here just for the money. Peter should have guessed that, he kind of embarrassed himself.

No one else made fun of him though, like he expected them to. Instead they continued to eat their food. 

Peter didn’t feel like eating.

He turned his head to look at the other groups of people, who were also currently eating. There was two other groups besides them. One of those groups consisted of lieutenant Romanoff, commander Blonsky and captain Rogers.

They were talking to each other again, like always. No one could ever join their conversations. They were so secretive about everything, which was actually kind of suspicious. At least to Peter it was.

Sometimes Peter wondered who they really were, and what their lives were like before this. 

“Hey, what’s the deal with lieutenant, commander and captain? Why are they always so secretive and quiet? Are they hiding something?” Peter asked from everyone else, eager to know the answer. Why not bombard others with many questions, now that he can finally talk to them?

“That’s something we can’t tell you. They have forbidden it,” Thor answered, mouth full of food.

Forbidden? Huh. That’s interesting. And a little iffy.

“What about you then? Why are you all here?” Peter asked again, trying to get some information about, well, anything really.

“Me? Well, I don’t tell my story to many people, but I guess you can hear it,” Thor said, setting his food down on the ground. “You see, I am not actually like you all. I am the son of Odin and Frigg, the king and queen of gods. I was casted down from my rightful home due to being reckless, and now I have to wander around Midgard to seek redemption and become a god again. Due to my god like powers, I know how to heal and treat other midgardians, like you. It is my duty here,” Thor declared, looking proud.

First Peter laughed, but he stopped quickly, when no one else joined him. What? Was Thor being serious? He can’t be. Peter thought Thor was just joking, but he looked actually convinced, that his story was true. Does he really think he’s-

“Thank you Thor, nice story, like always. It never gets old,” Clint said, cutting Peter’s internal monologue. “I myself got this job from Natasha. I actually worked in a circus before this. Heh, I know, unexpected. It was fun, but not really for me in the end. Then, one day, I met Natasha and she told me about this job. I joined immediately. Wonderful, isn’t it?”

Sam hummed. “My story isn’t that interesting. My friend and I served in the war. He was an expert with explosives and he got me into that kind of stuff too. After he died and the war ended, I met Steve at a bar. We talked and became close, because of our similar experiences. I learned that after the war, he lost almost everything, including his old job. He got a new one, this one, and recommended this to me too. I just thought to myself, _Why not give it a try?_ And that’s how I joined.” 

Peter nodded and listened closely, while everyone else told their stories. It was actually kind of interesting to hear, why everyone ended up down here.

After everybody was more or less done with their food, they wished everyone else good night and one by one disappeared inside their own tents to sleep. Or at least to try.

Peter was probably the only person awake when everyone else had already fallen asleep, but he couldn't help it. There was so many thoughts running around in his mind, that it was almost impossible to fall asleep. So many unanswered questions and… He really needed to pee.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Steve had actually fallen asleep and slept well. Surprisingly well. He was comfortable. More comfortable than he’d been in years.

But of course his peaceful slumber had to be disturbed again by none other than Mr. Peter Parker, who woke him up by screaming something about a fire outside his tent. Of course. Steve couldn't have any nice things.

He groaned and got out of his tent, ready to calm Parker down and get back to sleep, but for his horror, he saw the whole area and almost every tent actually in fire. A real, big fire.

While Steve stumbled completely out of his own tent, only wearing his tank top and pajama pants, Natasha had also come up to the scene and ordered everyone to to extinguish the fire immediately. But before that could be done, Blonsky, who had also arrived, announced that it’s too late and ordered everyone to take everything they could and cross the bridge straight away. 

And so they tried to save everything they could from the fire, which wasn’t much. While Steve ran around, picking up everything he just could, he swore for now on to _seriously_ keep a better eye on Parker. That boy was a real pain in their ass. How the hell did he even start a fire this big?

Everyone loaded their trucks, got in, and started to drive towards the bridge. Steve wasn’t driving anything, due to being the last one to get out of their burning camp. Instead he sat inside the trailer and looked as everything burned up in flames.

Some of their trucks also lit up in flames and Steve could only watch, as they exploded, not being able to help in any way.

Those explosions apparently were too much for the caves ceiling above them, because it started to unravel. Huge boulders fell down, but none of those fortunately hit their trucks or Scott’s excavator. 

What the boulders did hit though, was the bridge they were crossing. It looked like the bridge would break at any moment when it was struck and Steve held onto the trucks trailers railing so tightly, that his knuckles were white, while he watched everything come down right in front of him.

* * *

Next events were just a quick blur of incidents for Steve. The bridge did break like Steve feared, and the last thing he remembered before hitting his head on something and losing his consciousness was falling down, while screams of many people could be heard. 

Steve didn’t know how long he was out, but when he did regain consciousness, the first thing he noticed was a throbbing pain at the back of his head.

The second thing he noticed, was the fact, that he was laying down on the ground, which was surprisingly soft. And the third thing he noticed, was sounds. Whispers. From above him.

Steve slowly opened his eyes to see where the whispers came from. What he saw, was something he didn’t expect to see.

He was again in some weird cave, but now there was also at least three humans staring at him. Or Steve at least assumed, that they were humans. They were wearing ridiculously huge, blue masks, which made identifying them really difficult.

The masked people kept on whispering with each other in a language Steve couldn't understand and the middle one, closest one to Steve, came even closer to him, pointing at him with a weird looking spear. This didn’t look good.

Whatever was these people’s intentions, Steve wasn’t going to stay put and possibly get cut open. He tried to reach down to his pocket and pull out his gun, but a sudden, strong pain on his shoulder stopped him. He looked at his shoulder and saw a deep and really painful cut, bleeding a lot. Steve hissed through his teeth due to pain, and shut his eyes for a second. He couldn’t think straight.

Steve heard more weird noises from above him again and when he opened his eyes once again, he could this time see a real human man’s face staring back at him. The man had taken his mask off, probably to take a closer look at Steve.

The man looked around Steve’s age. His hair was white, with some black stripes, and his eyes were a deep shade of blue. At the moment Steve felt like he was going to get killed at any second, but something about this man’s eyes still allured him. They looked so soft, yet also sharp at the same time.

The man also had a weird looking goatee, and there was a bunch of odd blue markings running across his face. Stripes and dots. Kinda like tattoos. It looked strange. And interesting.

Steve had never seen a man like this before. He wanted to say something, but before Steve could say anything to him, the man took his crystal like necklace, that hung around his neck in his hand and brought it towards Steve. The necklace glowed a light shade of blue, like a light bulb, painting everything around it also blue. Steve tried to scramble away from it, not knowing what that crystal would and could do to him, but the man put his other hand gently on Steve’s chest, probably to calm him down and keep him in place.

Steve didn’t want to admit it, but it did help. The man’s hand was warm against his skin. It felt nice. Maybe even a bit too nice. A stranger's hand wasn't supposed to feel this comforting.

Steve took deep breaths, as the man first pressed his crystal on his shoulders wound and then replaced it with his hand. Steve had no idea what had just happened, but when the man removed his hand, Steve’s wound was completely gone. His shoulder was fully healed.

What kind of magic was that supposed to be? Who could just heal a deep wound like that?

Steve opened his mouth in shock and the other man above chuckled quietly. Steve raised his head back to look at him again. The man was smiling. It was a warm, nice smile. He opened his mouth and was probably about to say something, but was cut off by yelling coming from the distance. 

The yells were calling for Steve. Asking where he was. Oh, it was probably the rest of the excursion. They had also survived the fall and were now looking for him. Steve completely forgot about them already.

The three new humans didn’t like their calls. The man closest to Steve quickly put his mask back on and all three of them scrambled away, leaving Steve alone.

“Hey, wait! Where are you going?” Steve yelled after them, stumbled to his feet, and started to chase them. 

These humans were fast, jumping off from rock to rock like it was nothing. It was hard for Steve to follow them around in an unfamiliar territory, which was apparently _really_ familiar to them. He was clumsy, they were not.

Still, he managed to keep up with them almost the whole time, until they just disappeared and Steve ran through a weird looking hole in an yet another cave, hoping he’d find them there.

He didn’t find the humans, but he did find something else, though. Maybe even something better.

Steve stood on a cliff full off grass and other vegetation. It was the first time he’d seen any plants in days. But the plants weren’t the thing Steve was most impressed about, because in front of him, far away, he saw a city. A real, ancient looking city, surrounded by waterfalls and steam, that kind of looked like clouds. The air around him was warm. Tropical. It was all like a paradise.

The Atlantis. It had to be. He can’t believe it’s actually real.

* * *

“Steve? Steve, what the hell?” Steve heard Sam say, while he also slipped through the hole, quickly followed by the others and Scott's excursion, making the weird whole Steve came in through much bigger. 

Steve didn’t answer anything. He didn’t need to. 

Everyone else walked right next to him, probably as amazed as Steve was at the moment, while looking around them. 

“This can’t be real,” Clint said, sounding a little breathless, breaking the silence surrounding them all.

“It’s amazing,” Shuri sighed.

Steve felt actual joy, while taking in the view in front of him. They found Atlantis. They really did make it.

Steve’s joy didn’t last for long, though, because suddenly more weird sounds could be heard again, this time from behind everyone. They all turned around to look and as they did so, those same masked people came down from a cliff above them. Only this time there was more of them, and they didn’t look as friendly anymore. They all pointed their sharp looking spears at them, which didn't exactly look welcoming.

Steve reached for his gun again, but couldn’t find it. It must have fallen down at some point. _Shit._

This wasn't good.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

“Holy hell, who are these guys?” Blonsky yelled in shock, while the masked people started to get closer to everyone, still pointing their spears menacingly at them. Steve wondered the exact same thing. Everyone else probably did too.

Just a moment ago they were admiring the view of the newly found Atlantis. Now they were in the middle of some ambush, managed by some people. How did it end up like this?

Everything was extremely unclear at the moment, but one thing was for sure. These people really didn't like visitors. Because the way they were threatening everyone didn’t exactly look like a friendly welcome. Quite the opposite, actually.

Blonsky reached for his own gun, which was a sign for everyone else from their group. _If these people won’t back down, we’ll shoot._ Steve, as well as everyone else, knew that sign very well. It was common. Steve just wished they wouldn't have to use it this time.

He watched, as the masked people didn’t get the memo and got even closer to them, probably trying to drop them down from the cliff they were currently standing on. Steve gazed down and noticed just how far up they currently were. He hadn’t noticed it earlier, because he happened to be admiring the view of Atlantis.

No one could survive, if they were to fall down. Something had to be done, before anything bad happened.

“Wait, don’t shoot! They’ve got to be Atlanteans!” Peter cut in suddenly, while waving his arms around a little, probably to get everyone's immediate attention. It did work, because Steve turned his head around to look at him, now extremely confused. Everyone else did that too, because there’s absolutely no way these people could be Atlanteans. That’s ridiculous. 

“What? That’s impossible,” Natasha said, while frowning. It still looked like she was ready to drag out her gun at any second. So was everyone else.

As the others started to debate about this, Steve looked back at the masked people. They had stopped moving, and one of them, the middle one, had lowered down their spear, so it wasn’t pointing at them anymore. 

Maybe they wanted to talk? That would be preferable, compared to everything else.

“Hey, what if we now concentrate on these people with very sharp spears, and then later discuss the possibility of Atlanteans,” Steve suggested. The debate ended. Immediately after that, the middle one of the masked people took a step closer to them again and started pointing at them with their other hand.

They said something, again with a language Steve didn’t understand at all. It felt like the person was interrogating them all. Or at least it sounded like that.

Steve switched his gaze once again to Parker and raised his brows. If anyone could talk to those people, it would be him. He was the one who translated dead languages in his free-time. None other could understand anything from that talk.

It seemed like Parker understood that, because he also stepped forward and responded to that masked person with the same language. Or that’s at least what Steve assumed.

They started a conversation. The masked person said something, sometimes with an aggressive tone, and Parker answered. Sometimes it looked like he forgot what to say, but no one at least had gotten impaled yet, which was good. Looked like everything was going fine.

“What are they saying?” Clint asked quietly. Steve just shrugged. How could he know?

* * *

Their conversation went on for a little while. No one interrupted them and everything seemed to go just fine. Then, the masked person took off their mask and Steve almost choked on his own saliva, when he saw who was behind it. 

Blonsky shot a questioning look at him, but Steve didn’t really care, because that person was the same man from earlier, who had healed his wound. Only this time, Steve could see him much more clearly, and noticed how little clothing he was wearing, for example.

While Steve tried his hardest not to stare too much at that man, Parker’s and his conversation had slowly turned more relaxed and into… French? Wait, when did these people start understanding French? And Scott had also joined their conversation, also speaking French. What the hell is going on?

Slowly but surely, all the other masked people took off their own masks and revealed their faces. They all had white hair and that crystal necklace, as well as some blue tattoos. And they all spoke different languages from the surface. Spanish, French, German, and also some Gaelic, which pleasantly surprised Steve. 

“How do they know all these languages?” Steve could hear Shuri ask from Peter, who looked like he could almost fly from excitement. Steve would also really like to know that, because this is something he can’t quite understand. How do these people understand so many modern languages, if they really are Atlanteans?

“Their language must be based on a root dialect, which is like the tower of Babel,” Peter explained, while grinning.

“Well, maybe English is also there somewhere, then,” Blonsky, who had also listened to their conversation, said and then cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

“We are explorers from the surface world. We come in peace, we mean no harm,” he announced to everyone. Steve almost snorted when he heard that, because that is _not_ true, but he managed to keep a straight face. Instead he looked at that one man again. The man was also currently looking back at him, smiling.

“Welcome to the city of Atlantis,” the man said, now in clear English, while showing off the still breathtakingly beautiful city in the distance. “Come with us. You must speak with our king, now.”

Oh wow, okay. So they really are Atlanteans. That’s… Not good.

* * *

Blonsky had ordered half of their excursion to head back to the cave they were previously in, and bring everything they just could with them to Atlantis. Everyone else started to follow the Atlanteans, who led them through a bridge over a huge pool of lava, and into the city. Steve still couldn’t fully believe he was in the real Atlantis. And no one else could probably either.

Everyone else was looking around in awe, while they passed through huge monuments and waterfalls. Everyone, expect Natasha and Blonsky, who actually looked more uncomfortable. Steve understood why. These Atlanteans messed their original plans up.

“I didn’t think there could actually still be living people in here. Doesn’t that change everything?” Natasha asked from Blonsky. Steve agreed with Natasha, this changes things. They can’t continue, not now that there’s actual people in the way.

But Blonsky didn’t agree. He just shook his head. “No, no. It won’t change anything. Everything will go as planned.” Steve shot a borderline doubtful glance at him. Blonsky continued. “They’re probably at the brink of extinction anyways. Or what do you think, captain? Do you have any second thoughts?”

Steve sighed. “Nothing changes. We’ll continue as planned. But we have to be more careful.”  
  
Blonsky smiled, obviously pleased with Steve’s answer. Natasha hummed. “If you say so. But I’ve got to warn you, that Peter won’t like anything we do. I know it already.”

“That’s his problem, then,” Blonsky replied. Steve stayed quiet. This isn’t that simple anymore, he is having second thoughts.

* * *

Everything else aside, Atlantis sure was something magnificent. Steve had traveled around the world, before and after the war, but nothing could come even close to Atlantis. It was like a tropical forest, but filled with water and many, many different structures and buildings. 

Maybe the most impressive building out of all was the king's palace. It was already admirable from the outside, but when they finally got inside, Steve saw many things he never even imagined could be real. 

There was some flying creatures he had never seen before, as well as many odd plants and huge, stone sculptures of faces. In the middle of the palace was a huge pool of water, with stone steps inside it.

And of course, sitting on the throne was a man. An old looking man. Probably their king. No, obviously their king. Who else could he be?

The man, who had previously healed Steve’s wound, knelt before him and started to talk, probably Atlantean again. Parker also knelt. Steve didn’t bother to kneel. Blonsky and Natasha neither. No one else, besides them was let inside the palace.

Steve listened, as the man and the king spoke to each other. It didn’t look like a pleasant conversation. It looked like the man was pleading for something, but the king just shook his head. Whatever they were talking about, it wasn’t positive. 

Parker looked uncomfortable, while listening to them. Steve wanted to ask what they were saying, but didn’t get the change, because Blonsky decided to interrupt everything, including the man’s and king’s ongoing conversation.

“Your majesty, from behalf of my crew, may I say, it’s an honor to be welcome to your city,” he said and started walking towards the king. Steve cringed, because this really wasn’t the time for this, but didn't say anything. If Blonsky wanted to make a fool out of himself, he could do it in peace.

“You presume much, if you think you are welcome here,” the king said with no hesitation.

“Sir, we have come a long way looking f-,” Blonsky was about to continue with an imploring tone, but the king was having none of it and cut in before Blonsky could even finish his sentence.

“I know what you seek. And you will not find it here. Your journey has been in vain. Return to your people. You must leave Atlantis immediately.”

Steve watched, as Blonsky and the king started to borderline debate. He himself didn’t say a word. Peter tried to cut in and stop Blonsky from saying anything too dumb, but it didn’t really help. Blonsky truly didn’t care.

Steve quickly looked at the man again, who was still kneeling. He looked distressed. No wonder why. The argument was about the get heated, and that was when Steve decided to finally step in and say something, so it would stop.

“Excuse me, but may I respectfully request, that we stay one night, sir? That would give us time to rest, resupply and be ready to travel by morning,” he asked, trying to sound as respectful as possible. He doesn’t want to get in this king’s bad side. Blonsky can do that.

The king fell silent for a second. His eyebrows burrowed while he thought. Then, finally he agreed, letting them stay for a night. Steve could see, how Blonsky started to smile, although this wasn’t ideal.

* * *

“So, how’d it go?” Thor asked, after they had walked out from the palace.

“We can stay for one night. No more, no less,” Natasha answered and almost everybody’s face fell. Of course, they would have rather stayed in here for a little while longer. Steve would have too. But this was all they got.

“The king and that man don't exactly seem to see eye to eye,” Parker told everyone. “The man seemed to like us, but the king- i don’t know- It looked like he was hiding something, if I’m being honest.”

“Well, if he’s hiding something, I want to know what it is. Someone needs to talk to that man, since he looks so keen on us already,” Blonsky replied, eyeing everyone.

“Yeah, someone. Like Steve, for example,” Sam agreed, and bumped Steve’s arm with his elbow. Steve frowned and shook his head in confusion. What the hell is Sam talking about? Why him?

“Why won’t Natasha go? She’s good at making people talk,” Steve asked defensively, while rubbing his arm.

Natasha raised her other eyebrow and smiled. “No, I think you’re the best option for this one. Did you see how that man stared at you, whenever he just could? I bet you could make him spill all his secrets just by looking at him.”

Steve grumbled and looked at the others, desperately trying to find at least someone, who could go instead of him. They can’t send him, can they? Steve’s social skills are atrocious. Anyone else would be better.

But no one else stepped forward. They all looked at Steve

“Good job, captain. Thank you for volunteering,” Blonsky said with a grin on his face. Steve sighed, feeling defeated.

* * *

It wasn’t hard to find the man Steve was looking for. After everyone else had gone to set up a camp, Steve had stayed outside the king's palace, hiding behind a pole, and soon enough, after waiting a little, he saw the man in question walking out from the palace’s doors.

“Okay Rogers, you got this. Just tell him, that you have some questions and you won’t leave, until you get the answers,” Steve mumbled to himself, but when he got out from his hiding place to face the man, he had disappeared.

Steve looked around in shock, trying to spot the man, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. This was the second time this man did something, that shocked Steve. What is up with these Atlanteans?

While Steve kept on looking for the man, two arms suddenly wrapped around him and he heard a familiar, smooth man's voice from behind him. “I have some questions and you won’t leave, until I get the answers.” It was the man Steve was looking for. Apparently he knew Steve was waiting for him and managed to surprise him.

Steve almost strolled around and hit the man behind him, but luckily he didn’t do that. He knew, that it wouldn’t help anything. 

Instead he just nodded and the man let go of him. Well, almost. Because the man grabbed Steve’s hand instead. “Come on, I have a lot to ask.” 

Steve couldn’t say no to that. Not, when the man looked at him and smiled. Goddammit.

* * *

“So, why don’t we play a little game? It’s simple. I ask you a question, and you answer. Then you ask me a question, and I answer,” the man suggested, while they both walked around. They were currently walking in some sort of ruins. There was plants and destroyed constructions everywhere Steve looked.

“Okay. Ask away,” Steve agreed and followed the man, who jumped from one rock to another.

“Why are you here?”

“We… Atlantis is a legend on the surface and we wanted to see, if the legend was really true,” Steve answered. The man hummed, but didn’t say anything. “My turn, do you know your king personally?”

“Yes, he’s my father.” 

Oh, so this man is actually also a royalty of some type. Okay then. Maybe he does know something about these secrets the king may be hiding.

“Now’s my turn. Where are you from?” The man asked, now climbing up a larger rock. Steve still followed him.

“Brooklyn, New York,” Steve casually answered first, but then realized, that this man probably didn’t even know where New York located in. “New York is in The United States. It’s a large country, in North America. You know, across the Atlantic Ocean,” Steve added.

“Fascinating,” the man said quietly and stopped to just stare at Steve. They were standing on the huge rock they were climbing up just a moment ago.

Steve thought about his next question. There was so many things to ask, where does he start?

“Hm. Do you have any magical powers?”

The man laughed. Steve didn’t find his question that funny, but apparently the man did, because he laughed a real laugh. Huh. Okay. Apparently he doesn’t have powers. That raises even more questions.

“No. No, I don’t. But here’s a question for you, handsome, can you climb up really high?”

* * *

They ended up climbing up a huge stone structure together. The man was fast and agile, moving graciously while climbing, which was kind of mesmerizing. Steve couldn’t keep up with him most of the time, because he wasn’t as skilled. Sometimes the man waited for Steve or helped him out. It was embarrassing, if Steve was being honest.

When they reached the top, the man sat down. Steve had to stay standing for a second and just admire the view below. Atlantis sure was breathtaking. How hasn’t anyone else found it before?

While looking around in awe, Steve heard the other man sigh. He turned his head and saw him smiling and looking back at him. 

“What? Am I doing something wrong?” Steve asked, but the man just shook his head and requested him to sit.

Steve did do so, and they both sat in silence for a minute. 

God, how did it end up like this? Steve was supposed to question this man and get the answers, but instead he’s sitting next to this man and hasn’t even asked the big, important questions yet. He doesn’t even know this man’s name.

Oh yeah, he could ask.

Steve turned to look at the man, who was still watching the view in front of them. He looked calm. Steve cleared his throat. “It’s my turn to ask a question. We haven’t properly introduced each other yet. My name is Steve, what about you?”

“Oh, yes. What a beautiful name you have. My name is Agatonigash, nice to meet you.”

Aga… Aga-what? Agahonash? Anaconda? No… There is no way Steve’s going to remember that name.

“Uh. Agatoni… I’ll just call you Tony, if that’s okay,” Steve suggested and the man stopped smiling. He just stared at Steve and Steve thought, that now he broke some law about not renaming or giving nicknames to anyone, but then the man, Tony, started to smile again and nodded. “Sure. Tony sounds nice.”

After proper introduction, Steve and Tony started a small, casual conversation. They continued to ask questions from each other. 

Steve’s questions mostly revolved around Atlantis, because that was the thing he originally was supposed to ask about. He tried to keep his questions laid-back, and not just straight up interrogate Tony about everything, because that would of course be suspicious.

Tony, on the other hand, made it clear, that he was _extremely_ interested in Steve’s life. It felt like with every next question, Tony just became bolder and bolder, wanting to know all the juicy facts about Steve’s life. There wasn't much to tell him. Not really. 

Soon, it felt like Tony knew the name of Steve’s every family member, his birthday and every biological fact about his body. Steve instead still hadn’t gotten the answers for his big questions.

Suddenly Tony fell silent. Steve did too. There was still millions of questions Steve would like to ask, but he didn’t know where to start. _Why are you all here? What is that necklace? How did you heal me? What are those tattoos? What is the Heart of Atlantis? Is it real?_

Tony swung his legs over the edge and looked down, lost in his thoughts. Steve didn’t say anything, waiting for him to speak up again. 

“What is the surface like?” Tony suddenly asked, his voice more quiet than usual.

That question took Steve aback for a second. Of course he expected Tony to ask that question sooner or later, because he has lived his entire life down here. But Steve didn’t know what to say. 

Should he tell Tony about the blue sky, sun, and stars. The beautiful landscapes and animals. Or should he tell the truth? That the surface is messed up. That millions of innocent people got killed, because of a pointless war. That he lost everything because of that.

“It’s- God, it’s hard to explain. It looks beautiful on the outside, but everything is corrupted and fucked up from the inside,” Steve explained. Tony frowned.

“You don’t like living on the surface?”

“No,” Steve admitted. Tony’s frown deepened.

“But why? I would do anything to actually get out of here and see everything myself. You are lucky you get to experience everything.”  
  
“It’s not that simple, okay?” Steve doesn’t like where this conversation is going.

“I don’t get it. Why? Why isn’t it simple?”

“Because it just isn’t.”

“Tell me.”

“Drop it already.”

“No, tell me. Now.”

“Tony,” Steve groaned with a warning tone. 

Tony shook his head. “I just don’t understand how you could hate it, if you have all the freedom you can just wish for. Why? You can tell me,” he just kept on insisting and Steve gave up.

“Fucking hell, because people die every day, Tony. They die, because others are greedy and hungry for power. Innocent people suffer all the time. And for what? Money and authority. It’s all a corrupted mess. There was even a war, the Great War to end all the other wars. That’s what they said. But it wasn’t great. I was there, and I saw how people died right in front of my eyes. And god- Tony, when I got back, glad that I survived, I lost everything at home, including the love of my life, who married someone else. It’s just-”

Steve stopped immediately talking, when he realized, how much he had just said. That wasn’t supposed to go like _that_ . He wasn’t supposed to just spill all that out at Tony, so angrily, like he could do anything about it. _Shit._

He held his breath and watched, as Tony processed everything he just spat out. There was that suffocating silence around them, that Steve felt every time he talked about his experiences. He just clenched his fists nervously, trying to ignore it. 

_Shit, he should’ve just stayed quiet._

“Steve,” Tony said lowly and Steve forced himself to look at him. Tony’s eyes were soft again. Steve really doesn’t know how else he could describe that look. It wasn’t pity, luckily.

“It’s- Or I mean- You know, that sounds terrible. I didn’t exactly think it’d be like that. And you shouldn’t be ashamed to talk about it and your feelings. I know what it’s like. To be scared to die and doing everything to survive, I mean,” he continued, his voice gone low and faint. Usually Tony’s voice had this edge in it, but now it was completely gone.

“I was there, when Atlantis sunk. I was just a little child, maybe ten. I don’t remember much. Just flashes. People screamed and ran around, there was many lights and sounds. I also ran around, trying to find my mom. I cried. She- She died right in front of my eyes. I just remember her flying up and disappearing. That’s it. I kept on crying and I saw water coming out on top of us. I thought I was going to die right at that moment. There was a lot of water, and people screamed and tried to get out. I tried to get out. It was horrible.”

Now it was Steve’s turn to stay quiet and just stare at Tony. He didn’t expect him to just tell his experience like that. How could Tony just casually tell that to someone?

Steve couldn’t really read Tony's face. He wasn’t exactly sure, was Tony about to cry or smile. It was confusing. And on top of that, Tony’s story raised just more and more questions. Steve didn’t want to ask them now, though. Now isn’t the time for that.

“Wait,” Steve suddenly said to Tony and then reached for his trousers pocket. He pulled out a single, black and white photograph. It was a little worn out, but otherwise it was still in almost perfect shape.

“Here,” he said and handed the photograph to Tony. At first he looked puzzled, but accepted the photograph anyways and looked at it. “What is this?” He asked.

“It’s a picture of me and my ex-fiance before the war. We were on a date at the carnival. It’s a place where people go to have fun. We were having so much fun together, and she wanted to take a picture to remember that day forever,” Steve explained, his voice almost a whisper. 

“This photo is really important to me. It’s my only picture of us together before, well, you know already. You can see a bit of the surface from this photo. There’s the sky, full of clouds, and a carousel behind us, which she loved. It was the happiest day of my life,” he continued. This time he had to look away, while Tony inspected his photograph. It brought up many bittersweet memories. Steve didn’t want to start crying or anything like that near Tony.

“Do you hate her for what she did to you?” Tony asked, still looking at the photo. Steve though a little and then shook his head.

“No. No I don’t. She has the right to love someone else.”

Once again, they fell silent. But this time it didn’t bother Steve. Tony kept on analyzing his photograph and Steve looked at the view.

They stayed quiet for a little while longer. Then, Tony lowered the photograph on his lap and spoke again. 

“Do you want to touch my tattoos?”

Steve made a choking like noise and turned his head around to look at Tony, a little stunned. He looked confident, Steve didn’t understand why. 

“W- What do you mean? Touch your tattoos?”

“Yes. What else would I mean? I’ve seen how you stare at my tattoos, as well as the other Atlantean’s ones. Do you want to touch them?”

 _No, absolutely not,_ Steve thought. _Why the hell would he touch someone’s tattoos? Why would he touch Tony’s tattoos? Those especially run across his whole face and body, there’s no way._

“Yes.”

Tony smiled again, soft and warm, and took Steve’s hand. He brought it towards his own face and Steve held his breath. God, why was he making such a big deal out of this? It’s just tattoos.

Steve’s fingers gently touched Tony’s tattoos on his cheek and he traced them carefully. Tony was warm. That’s the first thing Steve noticed. Next he noticed, how Tony’s tattoos felt a little weird. Not too weird, though, they were nice. Like paint.

Steve doesn’t know how long he kept on tracing the blue stripes and dots on Tony’s face, but eventually Tony pulled his hand away from his face. He didn’t look weirded out or anything, but actually more happy. He placed Steve’s hand on the ground and then placed his own on top of it.

_Jesus Christ, okay. This is going a bit too far now. It’s time to stop._

“I uh- Thank you?” Steve managed to say. Tony just grinned.

They stayed like that. Steve wanted to pull his hand away, but the warmth of Tony’s hand felt too nice. What the hell is happening to him? Steve was supposed to interrogate this man, not have a deep conversation and trace his tattoos. They _seriously_ need to stop, now.

“Hey. I want to meet the rest of your crew. Especially that scrawny, brown haired boy, who spoke our language. Could that be arranged?” Tony asked.

Steve nodded.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little bit different compared to the others, due to being completely from Tony's pov.
> 
> This is because it's way easier to tell the next part of the story from his point of view :)

Originally Steve’s and Tony’s plan had been to find the rest of Steve’s crew’s members and introduce Tony to them, but they had quickly forgotten about that when they had walked around the busy Atlantean market and something new always caught Steve’s attention. 

At first it almost had felt like Steve was procrastinating on purpose, when he always found something new to admire and ultimately slowed down their trip, but Tony didn’t mind that much. The look on Steve’s face whenever he saw something extraordinary to him was worth it.

Tony had been happy to show Steve around and introduce him to Atlantean culture. It was the first time ever he’d got to really tell someone new about the things he loved. Steve did tell Tony some facts about his friends in return, but it had been clear, that he didn’t really want to see them at that moment. Tony figured, that Steve just wanted to spend more time with him, which was fine. Tony also wanted that.

After the small tour around Atlantis Tony hosted for Steve, they had ended up joining a dinner party organized for the new quests. Steve was absolutely baffled, when they had first arrived and he saw the huge piles of food just for them. It was kind of endearing to watch. 

Soon after also Steve’s friends had joined them at the dinner and to Tony’s pleasant surprise, they all seemed like nice people. Or well, almost all. There was few people Tony found iffy, and he noticed that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t really like their presence. 

That still didn’t change the fact, that Tony was having more fun than ever before with these people. He really wished this could last longer.

Tony turned his head around to look at Steve, who was currently sitting next to him and talking with one of his friends. Sam, if Tony remembered correctly. Even though he was enjoying himself, all the things Steve told Tony about the surface kept running around in his mind, whenever he looked at him. It was hard to forget.

When Steve had described his experiences, he had this haunted look on his face. It had scared Tony a little. But now it was almost completely gone, when he laughed with Sam about something and tried to eat his food with Atlantean cutlery, which didn’t really succeed. Tony could still see it all in his eyes, though.

Something wasn’t quite right, Tony knew it. But he didn’t talk about it, because it would ruin the comfortable bond that was forming between them two. And he didn’t want to risk that.

“Tony?” Steve suddenly asked, drawing Tony’s attention fully back to the present. “How are you supposed to eat this… This thing?” 

Steve was pointing at Tony’s personal favorite part of the whole meal. The green, multi-eyed shellfish. Tony absolutely loved it, but Steve looked hesitant, eyeing the shellfish uncertainly.

“Oh, you just bite the head off and chew,” Tony chimed. 

Steve looked even more sceptical. “While it’s still alive?”

“Yup, while it’s still alive. It’s fine, I assure you.”

Steve glanced at the flailing shellfish and frowned, obviously a little disgusted. Tony really didn’t understand what was the big deal. It was just a shellfish and Steve was being dramatic. And now Tony definitely wanted to see Steve eat it.

But just when Steve was about to take a hesitant bite and Tony’s whish was about to come true, their moment got rudely interrupted.

“Rogers, come over here. We need to talk,” the man Steve didn’t like, Blonsky, called out. He was standing further away from everyone else with that red haired woman, Natasha. The two people Tony found strange. Steve didn’t tell much about them to Tony, but even a dumb person could see how uncomfortable Steve was, when they were around. 

Or more specifically, when Blonsky was around.

Steve immediately tensed up and excused himself, after which he got up and left everyone else to join Blonsky and Natasha. Tony would have liked to just ask him to stay and ignore them, but he knew that couldn’t be done.

They started to talk. Tony couldn’t hear their words, but he could read their faces and body language. The conversation didn’t look pleasant.

Blonsky was obviously demanding something from Steve, looking angry like always. And it looked like Steve on the other hand tried to deny something, shaking his head and acting all defensive. This made Tony curious. What could they be talking about like that? And should Tony intervene and save Steve from this situation? Maybe he should.

But just as Tony was about to also get up and intervene, someone entirely else caught his interest. And that someone was Peter Parker, who had been the only one absent from their group before and had only now joined the rest of them for dinner. No one knew where he had been before, which was a bummer for Tony, because Peter was actually the one person Tony especially wanted to get to know better. 

That boy was the first outsider Tony had ever met, who knew Atlantean. That meant, that Peter might be able to answer some questions Tony has. And he _really_ wants to ask those questions from him before it would be too late.

Tony bit his lip. Now he had to make a choice. Either help Steve out or finally talk to Peter. The choice was hard, but Tony knew which to choose.

 _Sorry Steve_ , Tony thought, _y_ _ou’ll_ _survive on your own_. Tony has some questions that need answers.

And so he stood up and determinately walked towards Peter. The boy was currently piling up food on his plate, when Tony put his hand on his shoulder lightly to draw his attention. Peter’s head snapped towards him immediately, looking a little shocked, when he did so.

“Hey, sorry, but could I borrow you for a second? There’s some things I’d like to talk about with you,” Tony asked. 

Peter visibly hesitated for a second, but then nodded his head. Tony sighed in relief. _Finally._

* * *

Both of them had smoothly vanished from the dinner party without anyone noticing a thing. Peter was obviously confused about everything and asked many questions regarding everything, but Tony just told him to follow him, not answering any questions yet. That could be done later.

He brought Peter in the same ruins he had earlier shown to Steve. Peter looked around in wonder, while they walked through the heavy vegetation to an open area. They stood there in silence and when Tony was sure, that no one had followed them, he turned to look at Peter with a serious look on his face. 

“Can you read Atlantean?” He asked, going straight to the point. They didn’t have much time left anymore. This had to be quick.

“I uh- Yes. How so?” Peter answered. He still looked unsure about everything that was going on. Tony didn’t really blame him.

“How? How did you learn to read it?” Tony asked again, completely ignoring Peter’s question.

It seemed like Peter first considered his answer a little and then reached for his shoulder bag, which he was carrying with him, and pulled out an old looking book from there. Tony frowned, while Peter opened the book and showed it to him.

“I study languages, it’s kinda my job, and so I also learned Atlantean by studying it from this journal right here. It’s the Shepherd’s Journal. It’s full of amazing facts about Atlantis and how to find it. I mean, you probably already knew about it and everything, but I myself find everything in it fascinating, and I’m about to ramble. Sorry ,” he explained and then looked at the ground, like he was avoiding eye contact. 

Tony looked at the book in front of him. He took it in his own hands and then started to browse through it. The book was full of pictures and different signs, but most of them didn’t really matter to Tony at that moment. There was just one thing he wanted to see. It had to be in this book.

After browsing a little, Tony finally found a familiar looking picture about a ball of light floating in the sky, with people down below it. Tony looked at the picture and his mouth fell a little open. It was the thing he was looking for. That’s got to be it. That’s got to be the thing he saw when Atlantis sunk. 

“This, right here,” Tony almost shouted and shoved the book back in Peter’s hands. “What does this say?”

Peter looked at the book and then at Tony, frowning. “Can’t you read it yourself?”

Tony just shook his head. “No. No one can. Such knowledge has been lost to us for thousands of years.”

After hearing that, Peter stayed silent for a second. Apparently he wasn’t expecting Tony’s answer to be that. Tony just looked at him questioningly and crossed his arms. They seriously didn’t have much time, could he already just read the text?  
  
“Oh,” Was all Peter said once he came back to his senses. Then he looked back at the book and started to read it in Atlantean. Tony listened closely. Peter’s accent was horrible, but Tony still understood him. 

_Follow the narrow passage for another league. There you will find the fifth marker._

After Peter was done, he once again switched his gaze towards Tony. “Why did you want me to read this?”

Tony thought about his answer a little. Should he tell Peter the truth?

He figured yes. He could trust Peter. He looked like a honest kind of man.

“You see that picture portraying a ball of light right there? I’ve seen it. It was in the sky when Atlantis sunk. I was there when it all happened,” Tony told to Peter and pointed at the picture on the book’s page he had been reading. But it looked like Peter didn’t believe him, because he chuckled and shook his head.

“Wait a minute, that can’t be real. If you were really there when Atlantis sunk, you’d have to be at least over 8500, or actually, 8800 years old.”  
  
Tony raised his eyebrows and smiled a little. “Yes, and?” Peter wasn’t wrong. And when he realized that, it was his turn to look at Tony in shock while Tony chuckled slightly. Apparently people from the surface didn’t live that long. Interesting.

“I’ll maybe explain later. But now I have something I want to show you,” Tony announced. “Follow me.”

* * *

“I don’t get it. What do you want to show me?” Peter asked from Tony, who had brought them to an yet another open area.

“I’ll show you,” he responded and walked up to a large object, covered by a large cloth. Peter watched Tony curiously, while he grabbed the cloth and pulled it off, revealing a huge vehicle, which kind of looked like a big fish made out of stone.

“What is that?” Peter asked, looking stunned. 

“It’s a vehicle. A speeder, if I’m correct. I’ve tried to turn it on, but no matter what I’ve tried, it won’t respond,” Tony answered and walked around the vehicle. Tony had been trying for many years to understand the mechanics behind this vehicle, but he still didn’t fully comprehend them. It was complicated. But nothing Tony can’t solve with some extra help. “Could you maybe take a look?”

Tony watched, as Peter nodded and started inspecting the vehicle. It seemed like he was really interested in it, like Tony also was when he first found it.  
  
“There’s some text in here,” Peter suddenly said and pointed at the touch pad of the vehicle. Tony knew that already, anyone with eyes could see that. The only problem was, that Tony couldn't read it. Peter could though.

Peter seemingly understood that and started to read the text. “Place crystal into slot.”  
  
“Yes, yes. I’ve done that,” Tony said.

“Gently press your hand on the inscription pad.”  
  
“I’ve also done that.”  
  
Peter hummed. “Did you turn the crystal one quarter-turn back?”

“Yes,” Tony answered. 

“While your hand was on the inscription pad?”

“Ye- No.” Tony had done everything, except that one. Cold that really be it?

He walked right next to Peter, who was still observing the vehicle’s text. He pulled his necklace over his head, placed the crystal on the slot right over the vehicles touchpad, placed his hand on the pad, and rotated the crystal. 

The vehicle roared to life immediately after he did that. Tony pulled his crystal out and just as he did so, the vehicle started to float. Peter yelped and Tony quickly pulled him further away from it, while also watching in amazement as the vehicle truly floated in the air. He couldn’t fully believe his eyes.

“This is amazing,” Peter breathed out and slowly started to approach the floating speeder. Tony followed him not too far behind. He gently touched the vehicle, while Peter next to him started to ramble again about how excited he was because of this.

Tony agreed with him. This was beyond exciting. Just thinking about all the things he could do with this speeder made Tony grin in anticipation. 

“I wonder how fast it goes,” Peter pondered and slightly touched the vehicles touchpad. Tony was about stop him, because playing around with the touchpad without knowing what the speeder could do isn’t really the best idea, but before he could, the speeder swished out of control and crashed at a nearby rock at full speed.

It all happened so fast, that Tony didn’t even have enough time to react properly. A wave of emotions flashed through him _really_ quick. First shock, them amazement and then small annoyance. He turned to look at Peter, frowning a little. What he did was very irresponsible and they could have gotten hurt.

Peter just smiled a little bothered smile and whispered, “Sorry.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but still couldn’t fight back a small smile and huffed a quiet laugh. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. The boy was smart, Tony could admit that. There was a lot of potential. And Tony’s sure, that Peter can help him out even more now.

“There’s just one more thing I’d like to show you,” Tony told Peter.

“What? Another ancient vehicle that you need help with?” Peter asked. Tony shook his head.“No, something much bigger. I want you to translate some text to me from a big mural.” 

Tony’s words seemed to spark Peter’s immediate interest, which was good, because this was going to be a long trip.

* * *

They had walked out from the ruins and this time Tony had led Peter with him to a lake surrounded by many structures. Before Peter got to work, Tony had decided to quickly get them a light source, because it was way too dark to do anything without one. 

While he was filling up a lamp with fireflies, Peter at the same time next to him was having the time of his life, looking at the old structures and playing around with fireflies, that had started to swarm around them.

“You know Tony,” Peter said while trying to catch a firefly, “These things are kind of cute when they aren’t burning everything they touch.”  
  
“Burning everything?” Tony questioned and looked up from his work at Peter. 

Peter smiled slightly. “Yeah. Uh, while we were travelling towards Atlantis with the excursion, we slept in this cave, that had this huge, glowing chandelier looking structure attached to the ceiling. We didn’t think about it too much, but when everyone else was asleep and I had to do… Certain things, I accidentally flashed my flashlight at the structure and maybe millions of these fireflies flew out from it and burned the whole camp down.”

“Oh wow,” Tony murmured.

“It was a disaster, really. Some of our trucks exploded, this one bridge crumbled down and we all fell inside this sleeping volcano… I think. And everyone was _furious_ with me. Everyone, expect Steve, because he actually wasn’t there with the rest of us,” Peter continued. _Yeah, he was with me_ , Tony thought, but didn’t say anything. Peter catched the firefly he had been playing with and brought it to Tony, who added it inside his lamp.

They stayed quiet, while Tony started to bind the lamp shut. When he was ready, Peter spoke again, this time his voice more quiet. Almost dreamy.

“I didn’t expect Atlantis to be still inhabited by humans and animals. I mean, it was kind of a shock to me, when I found out that there’s still a living and thriving culture and everything deep underwater. It’s incredible.”

Tony sighed and placed his lamp on the ground. He disagreed. 

“We aren’t really thriving. Sure, our people live, but our culture is dying and finding food is becoming harder and harder. This is why I wanted to ask for your help. You know things about Atlantis, that even I don’t know. If you can translate the mural to me, maybe I can find a solution for the crisis.”

Peter didn’t answer anything to that. He nodded his head, but Tony could still see him hesitate a little. He knew that it was wrong to put all this pressure on him, but there wasn’t really anything else he could do. It was Tony’s responsibility to help others and he needed assistance in that, as much as he didn’t want to admit it at first.

“Alright, let’s get started then,” Peter offered and walked towards one of the huge structures. They were all covered in text, but it wasn’t what they were there for. No, the real mural was much bigger and further away.

As Peter started to talk, Tony turned towards the lake and stepped in the water. It was nice and warm, just perfect for a swim. He took a couple more steps and then turned his head back towards Peter.

“You coming?” He asked. Peter made a confused sound.

“W-what? Swimming?” He asked. Tony smirked again. “What? Did you think that the mural was here? It’s underwater. You can swim, right?”

“I uh- Yeah, of course I can,” Peter said, sounding defensive. Tony just shot a knowing look at him and then turned around again, walking further in the water. Soon Peter joined him.

“Alright. Follow me,” Tony ordered, took a huge breath, and them dived in the deep water.

* * *

There was little to no light underwater either, but Tony’s necklace’s glow gave them enough light to navigate around. He had swam around so many times, that he knew exactly where to go. Peter following him was a little slow, but Tony didn’t mind. 

After they had swam deep underwater for a little while, they finally arrived to their destination. The huge mural, full of text and paintings.

Tony looked at Peter, who had already started to read the mural’s text. There was a lot to read and Tony knew, that they couldn’t stay underwater for long. Humans need oxygen. Luckily, Tony knew just a place to go for a breath of fresh air. 

He nudged Peter’s arm and when the boy switched his gaze from the text to him, he pointed upwards towards an opening just above them. There was an air pocket just the right size to fit them both. There they could breathe before continuing.

Peter seemed to realize that and followed Tony, as they both swam up to the air pocket. When Tony pulled his head out of the water, he had to gasp for air. They had held their breath for a really long time. If he had stayed underwater for much longer, he could have drowned.

Peter’s head rose up soon after his. “You alright, kid?” Tony immediately asked. He was a little worried, that Peter couldn’t keep up. But he just nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t drown, so that’s a good sign, right?”

Tony sighed. It was a relief. “Were you able to read anything?” 

“Something. But it’s really dark and I could really use a reading light. Could you stay a little closer, so your crystal necklace’s light could illuminate the text?”

“Sure. Follow me.” And with that said, Tony dived back in water. 

Peter followed him and when he started to again read the text, Tony swam next to him and held his crystal, so Peter could actually see what he was reading. Peter moved around, reading everything he could, and then he pointed upwards again. He wanted to talk, Tony understood that.

They again swam up in the pocket and right after they could breathe again, Peter started to ramble.

“It’s amazing! It’s the complete history of Atlantis. Everything is there. It’s almost exactly like Plato described it. Or well, he was off about a few details but nevertheless-”  
  
“The light I saw,” Tony interrupted Peter’s talk. “The huge star like light in the middle of the city. What does the writing say about that?”

“I don’t know yet. But we’re gonna find out, come on,” Peter promised and then they dived down again. 

Tony led Peter to the biggest part of the mural, a painting showing again the big ball of light and people below it, like always. It was huge, filled with text, and Peter immediately started working. Tony just followed him, when he swam around and read everything he could. 

Suddenly Peter took Tony’s crystal into his own hands and pointed at it. Tony frowned, not understanding what he was implying. Did the ball of light have something to do with his own crystal necklace?

They both knew what to do, an once again swam up to the air pocket.

“The Heart of Atlantis,” Peter breathed out, still trying to catch his own breath. “It’s the Heart of Atlantis! It’s the thing my journal was talking about. It wasn’t a star or anything like that, it was a crystal. Like these.” Peter again took Tony’s crystal in his own hand and showed it to him. Tony didn’t fully understand what Peter was trying to tell him.

“Don’t you get it?” He asked. Tony shook his head a little. He didn’t understand how _his_ crystal could be the thing that pulled his mother away from his thousands of years ago. “It’s like a power source. The power source I’ve been looking for, the bright light you saw, they’re the same thing! It's what powers your crystal's too. It powers everything.”

“It can’t be,” Tony murmured, although he was starting to understand what Peter was meaning. Still, it didn’t make any sense.

“It’s what is keeping all of these things, you, alive. It’s a big ball of energy. Something really big and powerful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

Tony didn’t even notice at first, that his mouth was hanging open. This just was a lot of information. Of course it was. But he kind of expected to get answers, not even more questions. This all was even more complicated than he had originally thought, and he had already known that this was _extremely_ complicated.

“Where is it now?” Was the only thing Tony asked. He didn’t know what else to ask. But to his disappointment, Peter just shrugged.

“I don’t know. You’d think something so important would have been in the journal but- “ Peter suddenly fell silent for a second. Tony was still frowning. He was starting to understand this but now he had only one major question. Why? Why doesn’t he know about this? He’s been alive for 8000 years. He’s the prince, soon to be king of Atlantis. Why doesn’t he know anything about this?

Peter mumbled something to himself. Tony looked at him questioningly.

“The missing page… A page was missing from my journal. It contained information about the Heart of Atlantis. Somebody else must have probably ripped it off. It’s the only explanation. Someone else knows about this already.”

Oh no. That’s not good.

“We need to go,” Tony said and Peter nodded in agreement.

* * *

Peter had gone before Tony this time. It looked like he was in a really big rush. He hadn’t told Tony anything, but Tony kind of suspected that some of Peter’s excursion’s members weren’t so clean and nice after all. They wanted something from Atlantis.

Gods, Tony just hoped that Steve wasn’t one of them. He had really started to like Steve.

Tony rose to the surface a little after Peter, and when he did so, he saw many people waiting for them. Or to be more precise, the rest of excursion’s members, led by none other than Blonsky. Each of them held some type of weapons and to Tony’s dismay, he saw Steve standing with them. He could almost feel his heart sink, when he noticed that

“Had a good swim?” Blonsky asked, his words probably directed towards Peter, who looked as shocked as Tony felt at that moment.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated. Constructive criticism is also always welcome <3


End file.
